Colorado Avalanche center Colin Wilson tumbles over Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson after being pushed by defenseman Korbinian Holzer in front of the net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, front, of Finland, fights for control of the puck with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson makes a glove save of a Colorado Avalanche shot during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, front, of Finland, pursues the puck as Anaheim Ducks left wing Andrew Cogliano follows during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing J.T. Compher, right, competes for control of the puck with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, right, pursues the puck with Colorado Avalanche center Carl Soderberg, of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks center Antoine Vermette, right, works next to Colorado Avalanche left wing J.T. Compher during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, right, of Finland, looks back after hitting Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour and sending him to the ice during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks center Rickard Rakell, right, fires the puck past Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth, both of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks goalie Reto Berra, of Switzerland, uses his glove to deflect a shot off the stick of a Colorado Avalanche player during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Alexander Kerfoot, left, vies for control of the puck with Ducks center Dennis Rasmussen during the first period of Friday’s game in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Alexander Kerfoot, center, slips between Anaheim Ducks center Chris Wagner, left, and left wing Nick Ritchie in pursuit of the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour, right, is congratulated on his goal by defenseman Francois Beauchemin, during the third period against the Colorado Avalanche in an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, front, of Sweden, and Anaheim Ducks left wing Nick Ritchie vie for puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier jumps while deflecting an Anaheim Ducks shot during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, center, is congratulated after scoring the go-ahead goal by right wing Mikko Rantanen, left, of Finland, and right wing Sven Andrighetto, of Switzerland, against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry skates off at the end of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Denver. Colorado won 3-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER — Life within the Ducks on a fall Friday night in the Rocky Mountains started off on the wrong foot with Ryan Getzlaf’s injury becoming a nuisance and his healthier teammates looking as if they were hobbling around the Pepsi Center ice surface.

By the end of a one-sided contest courtesy of the speedy Colorado Avalanche, the Ducks were also down a No. 1 goalie who’s been their best player of the young campaign and having to lean on a journeyman backup with them only because the expected one is still among the injured.

A game the Ducks played as if they had no business winning had a chance to become that. Injuries and a litany of penalties threatened to doom them all night but they survived and even thrived for a time until Tyson Barrie’s power-play goal with 5:39 left lifted the Avalanche to an eventual 3-1 win.

The Ducks somehow nearly gained something out of it, even as they took five of their eight minor penalties in the first period and watched John Gibson leave the contest at that point with an upper-body injury after dealing with a 19-shot barrage from the far more competitive Avalanche, the NHL’s worst team in 2016-17.

But they’ll return home with the obvious proof that Colorado was the far better team on this night. The Avalanche (4-1-0) had a 39-18 shot advantage and kept up the pressure even as they lost scoring center Nathan MacKinnon to an eye injury early on.

“It was as bad as I’ve seen our team play since I’ve been here,” said Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, in his eighth season. “It was pretty embarrassing, to be totally honest. Just one that you have to swipe under the rug and move on to the next one.”

Reto Berra was suddenly summoned for his first game with the Ducks after signing a one-year contract over the summer. Berra’s 71 previous games of experience with Calgary, Colorado and Florida came in handy with Ryan Miller yet to make his debut due to a wrist injury.

Berra was outstanding in relief, making 19 saves and allowing the Ducks to get a look at stealing a point. He stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second period and stood tall in the third, with two terrific saves on Sven Andrighetto among his best made.

It was simply too much placed on the shoulders of the 6-foot-4 Swiss netminder. Brandon Montour gave the Ducks (2-2-1) some new life with a shorthanded goal for a 1-1 tie 2:14 into the third. But Montour later was called for his second slashing penalty, one of six the Ducks were guilty of.

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle called it “a waste of a performance” and lamented that nothing came from it “because the guy played well for us.”

“Normally, you think you start a game but as a backup, you see these things,” Berra said after his initial Ducks outing. “It’s a physical game and you never know when you have to jump in sometimes. That was the case today.”

Operating with their eighth power play, the Avalanche converted for the second time as Barrie took a one-time slap shot off Mikko Rantanen’s pass and the puck flew past Berra. Rantanen also set up Gabriel Landeskog’s first-period score on Gibson after Rickard Rakell was busted for slashing.

Referees Francois St. Laurent and Brad Meier were keen on enforcing the stricter rules on slashing that were put into action before the season. But the often ultra-aggressive Ducks clearly need to adapt.

“Obviously you never want that in a game, especially with the stick penalties,” Montour said. “We knew going into the year that they were cracking down on that and stuff. There’s certain times there when you want to battle and you want to use your stick.

“Nowadays, you can’t do that. Myself included. We just got to watch that. I had two tonight.”

Said Fowler: “Five in the first period. It takes away all of our momentum. It was awful. Can’t win a hockey game that way.”

The Ducks still hung in but Nikita Zadorov’s empty-net goal made the loss official. After signing with Colorado in the offseason, Jonathan Bernier got the start against his former team and made 17 saves. Bernier was allowed to walk as a free agent after going 21-7-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average in his one season.

Much of Bernier’s playing time with the Ducks came as a result of Gibson suffering a groin injury in the second half of last season. On Friday, Carlyle said Gibson got hurt on a shot from a teammate during their warm-up skate but told him that he could still make his start.

The first-period blitz from the Avalanche was too much to deal with. “And then it got to a point where it wasn’t safe,” Carlyle said. “He didn’t feel good. So he said he wasn’t good to go.”

Getzlaf missed the first two games of the season because of a lower-body injury that bugged him in the latter stages of training camp. The big center returned for his first two contests and got his first two points with assists Wednesday in the Ducks’ win over the New York Islanders.

And as he took the morning skate Friday following a day free of practice for maintenance, Getzlaf didn’t appear to have any visible signs of discomfort. But when the Ducks went out before the game, their captain wasn’t among them as his existing injury was clearly aggravated.

Carlyle said Getzlaf seemed fine after the morning workout but then indicated he couldn’t play when he came back to the arena in the afternoon.

“It’s always a hit when you’re missing your best player and your captain,” Fowler said. “That’s unfortunate. As a team, you learn how to deal with injuries so it had no effect on us in the way that we played.

“Obviously we’re a better team when he’s in the lineup. But we have to find ways to make contributions when we’re missing key guys like that.”

Eric Stephens has been covering the Ducks and the NHL for news outlets since 2005 and for the Orange County Register since 2009. Now happily spreading the hockey gospel throughout the Southern California News Group. Has covered three Stanley Cup Finals and (sadly) one NHL lockout. Once took up an invitation to a fan's tailgate barbecue at the College World Series. Has all sorts of genres on his iPod and tries his best in whatever he does most of the time. Only the grits at Waffle House come close to his. Eternal goal: Be better.

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